John McAfee, the late antivirus tycoon, was reportedly hiding out in a semi-abandoned Spanish hotel that housed a secret Bitcoin mining farm in its basement, according to a report by CryptoComLearn citing Spanish publications. The discovery emerged from police raids and social media clues pieced together by online sleuths.
The 'Ghost Hotel' With a Mining Operation
The location was the Daurada Park Hotel in Cambrils, a coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. Dubbed a “ghost hotel” by El Confidencial because reservations were virtually impossible (no one answered calls), the facility had few reviews on Tripadvisor after 2017, most of which were “terrible.”
The hotel was purchased by an unidentified Russian businessman. In 2018, authorities became suspicious after noticing a giant laser pointing at the sky on the roof. A raid by Catalan police uncovered a 24/7 Bitcoin mining farm in the basement. However, because cryptocurrency was unregulated at the time, police lacked the authority to shut it down. The fate of the mining rigs remains unclear, and the hotel is now permanently closed.
Clues That Led to the Hideout
McAfee never publicly said he was staying there, but computer enthusiasts used open-source intelligence (OSINT) to match his social media posts with the hotel's surroundings. Photos of beaches and balconies matched Google Maps images of the Daurada Park Hotel. In March, he shared pictures of empty supermarkets with price tags in Catalan. He was also spotted with a bottle of Catalan Sumarroca cava wine, Spanish Bezoya water, and ATO cream, all local products.
McAfee eventually admitted to visiting Catalonia “for a few days,” but investigators believed the hotel was his long-term base. He had been visiting the area since 2018 or 2019. On October 3 last year, he was arrested at Barcelona El Prat airport while planning to fly to Turkey. He was held at Brians 2 prison in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires after appearing before Spain's high court. The U.S. Department of Justice indicted him in March. The 75-year-old was found dead in his cell, sparking speculation about a “dead man’s switch.”
McAfee had claimed that U.S. federal agents suspected he had hidden cryptocurrencies, which he denied, stating all his assets had been seized.